Snow in Summer
by BlackMoonVampyre
Summary: How can an outsider, who's been living in the U.S for a few years, know almost everything about the Sohma family and the terrible curse placed upon a select few? and what is the grudge she seems to hold on Akito?
1. Akito smiles

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Fruits Basket, if I did do you honestly think I'd be sitting on my butt writing this?

.If you said Yes, to the above question, your I.Q. is officially below 5, congratulations! Well onwards with my crappy work of art!

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"You stupid girl!" the boy just a few years older than her yelled' the small girl was terrified but she tried not to let it show. "I- I'm sorry!" she managed to stammer out "I promise, I won't do it again!" her lips trembled as the words poured out. Suddenly a sharp pain filled her face and her head was thrown to the side. He had slapped her! She cupped her cheek with a small hand and tried not to let show the tears that welled into her eyes. She looked back up at the boy half expecting to be slapped again, but what she did see only scared her all the more.

He was smiling, the boy known as Akito was actually smiling. It wasn't the fact that he was, but it was his eyes that made his smile all the more sinister, it was almost as if he had just thought of something terribly cruel to force upon her.

He reached out his hand and placed it on her forehead, she flinched but before she could pull away a sharp pain filled her tiny body, she let out a scream that seemed only to echo through her head. "Maybe now you'll be sorry" the speaker seemed so far away now. She could feel herself falling and finally, it seemed, only darkness surrounded her.

She awoke, alone in the room, and with a, what she had once heard her mother call-a pounding headache. She sat up, and noticing the dim light looked towards the sliding door, which was no longer, cracked open, as it was earlier. Night had fallen, leaving only a dim blue light in the room. She held a fragile hand to her forehead, just as she had seen her mother do, and rubbed it hoping for the pain to go away, but it didn't.

The girl ran, terrified, from the house. Her short, dark hair whipping out behind her, she stopped where the huge looming wall stood and took one last glance back at the main house. What had Akito done to her? She didn't know nor could she care less at the moment. She faced her right side and found the small green bush that hid her only way of escape other than that of the front gate.

She pushed aside the small braches, crying out when a small thorn caught her finger. She paused to look down at her small but painful wound, blood flowed easily from it but slowed down in a matter of seconds as the cut clotted over.

She continued on removing the obstacles the braches were posing and finally reached the opening in the wall. She pushed her small body through and fell to her knees as she reached the other side.

Her small feet pounding on the ground she ran down the empty streets not quite knowing where she was going but she only wanted to run from the main house, but more than that she wanted to see her mother's relieved face when she would, eventually, make her way home. "Mommy" she whispered under her breath, while ignoring the pain that stabbed at her with every step she took.

…That was nine years ago, and since then the small girl has grown happily but also with a terrible curse, and the time has come to regain the normal life that has long since faded from her memories.

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A/N: Well I know it's really short but I just wanted to establish the first chapter (finally) and see if anyone reading this (who reviews anyway) would like me to continue with it or just give up all hope on it and abandon the cause. If I am to go on though I can't promise updating often because I have school work to do and a big move is coming up so just bare with me please. 


	2. In the Rain

The rain poured down in heavy sheets soaking the only person daring enough to walk through it without seeking any type of shelter. She looked up through the thin canopy of trees at the dark sky, hopeful to see the moon as a sign that the clouds were clearing, but only the glow of the moon behind thick clouds was to be seen with the occasional lightning bolt.

She gave out an involuntary but weak cough and leaned her shoulder against the nearest tree. She hadn't eaten for almost three days now and her energy supply was dangerously low, to the point where she had already fainted countless times. She pushed herself off of the tree and took a few hesitant steps forward before regaining her steady stride.

A long strand of hair had glued itself to the side of her cheek but she hadn't the energy to reach up and push it aside so she left it and tried to ignore it. Lights could be seen not that far ahead, they weaved their way in and out of her vision. That's where she was going, not to seek company but just shelter from the rain even it that meant staying huddled up near their front door for the night.

She stopped as the deep rumble of a landslide could be heard over the sound of the rain, and flinched as the vibration soon followed. 'That was close' she thought to herself before forcing her body to walk towards the lights again.

The rain falling against the leaves on the trees, and the ones on the dirt path she was following, created somewhat of a soothing sound that kept her going despite the fact that she was frozen to the bone and she had lost touch to any part of her body.

The lights drew closer and the girl suddenly gained a faster gait, pushing her body to it's limits just to find shelter if nothing else. She gasped as her foot sunk into a muddy puddle that had seemingly come from nowhere. She quickly pulled her foot out and went on trying to ignore the sudden coldness that enveloped her already numb foot.

'Just a little more' she told herself and was correct, the house, which seemed larger than your average home, could be clearly seen and the trees were beginning to thin out.

Her stride quickened even more until it was almost a run, her body wanted to give up on her, and she could tell but the girl refused to give up at this point. She was closing in on the building, the trees were now very few and she knew she was in the main 'yard' of the house, if they even had a yard.

"C'mon!" she almost shouted to herself, gritting her teeth and fighting off the darkness that kept finding chances to creep up on her. She listened to her uneven breathing and her pounding feet, she was now only worried about getting there and less about what obstacles lay in front of her.

Her foot slipped suddenly in a mud puddle, sending the girl flying through the air. She released a high-pitched noise that was between and scream and a gasp, before landing heavily in the puddle she had just slipped in. She could feel the mud surround her and felt disgusted by it but still lay.

She wanted to just lay there no matter how disgusting it felt, she honestly just wanted to sleep even, if it meant greeting death, which seemed near enough as it was. 'I can't go on' an unknown voice said. "Yes you can" she answered firmly, her tears of determination and desperation mixing with the mud as she forced her way to her knees, rested, and then to her feet.

Sudden dizziness and nausea overcame her and she was sure, if she had anything in her stomach that she would have vomited right where she stood. Her hand rested lightly against her mouth and she was able to calm herself down. "Let's go" a little motivation was all she had, but still it helped.

She could clearly see almost every detail visible on the side of the home she was approaching and she footsteps suddenly became heavier and less frequent. "C'mon" she said gritting her teeth once more, her body was surely going to give out on her in a few moments and the house was now only a few feet away.

"C'mon!" she said louder this time, drowning out the sound of the pouring rain. She tripped over the first step but managed to climb the next one. She stood for a moment, sheltered from the rain and now at a loss for what to do, before she slipped into the welcoming darkness.

Her body fell against the side of the house causing a large 'thud' sound to resonate into the dining room of the home (in which three of the four members sat eating). She fell to the ground unaware of the six eyes staring at the wall she had just hit, unaware, now, of everything around her except the dark and cold rain.


	3. Secret Revealed?

A/n: I beg of my readers to please pardon my seemingly abandonment of this particular work, and I ask that they continue to read and review as they please.

In other words I'm really sorry that I haven't been on in such a long time and haven't updated in an even longer amount of time, so forgive and forget right?

Disclaimer: I do NOT own fruits basket...if i did that'd be pretty cool ;P

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A frown crossed the doctor's flawless face, and his violet eyes narrowed a bit "she's suffering from severe malnutrition, a sprained wrist, cold symptoms, and a fever." He classified after only examining the girl for a matter of minutes.

He stood from his kneeling position and turned to face the look of sheer confusion on Shigure's face. "In other words" Hatori said "she's worse off then Rin at the moment." A look of understanding finally lit up the dogs face and Hatori gave an irritated sigh.

"Come! Come!" Shigure said waving a playful hand in the air "We mustn't worry too much on such matters" the carefree man said with a smile plastered on his face. Hatori bit back any remark and turned back towards the unconscious girl lying on the couch. After a moments hesitation he tightened the bandage wound around her left wrist.

With another sigh he stood once more "that's about all I can do right now" he closed his bag and turned towards Shigure once more. "Be sure to call me when she wakes up, give her some cold medicine and only allow her to drink liquids in small amounts unless you want to be cleaning up vomit for awhile" he said sternly. He pushed past Shigure glancing at his watch.

'12:35 a.m.' glared up at him as he looked at it with disdain. Hatori had received the call from Shigure hours before and ever since his arrival had been paying close attention to the newcomer. As for Kyo, Yuki, and Tohru, they had retired hour's before-Tohru insisting that she at least try to wash as much of the mud from the girls' hair as best she could before doing so-but eventually the house had grown calm and for the most part restful.

Hatori heard a loud yawn from behind him but he didn't turn to look, as he grabbed his coat from the closet and placed his feet into his shoes. "G'bye Haa-San" Shigure said lazily while adjusting his robe. Hatori nodded in reply, and stepped out into the very early morning, already hating the prospect of having to go to work in a few hours time.

A small smile crept over her face as she was finally granted leave of the darkness and step into a less menacing, but still dull, gray. She had no knowledge of what had happened, and she, somewhat, feared that she had already met her death without even getting close to what she had come to Japan to do.

If she was in fact dead she refused to believe it as she fought desperately against herself, forcing her body to wake up against its will.

Her eyes flashed open catching the amused eyes of an older man before they slipped shut in a more restful sleep than the darkness had served.

She awoke to the feeling of something digging into her side, removing itself and then digging in once more repeatedly. Her eyes opened lazily to reveal the dark-haired man she recognized from her previous waking. She felt his finger poke her side again "wake up" she heard him drone as if he were a small child waking his mother to come play with him.

"What the hell do you want?" she asked, her voice coming out scratchy and small. "Ah, so you have awoken!" he said excitedly "That's good because I don't know what I would do with myself if I had to watch you sleep all day" the poking ceased, thank god, and the man scratched the back of his head.

"I was told to give you these" He said holding out two white tablets. She looked down at the pills "where am I?" she asked as she noticed that the open sky she had expected to wake up under had been replaced by a white ceiling, and the wooden deck she had fallen on had been replaced with a soft couch.

"You are currently located in my house which is located in Japan which is then located on planet Earth, which is then located in the Universe and so on and so forth. Now open your mouth" He reached towards her with one of the white tablets, and with a sudden burst of energy she slapped his hand away and sat up all in one move.

Dizziness swept over her almost forcing her to lie back down but she ignored it. "What makes you think I'm just going to accept that from you?!" she shouted glaring at the man. "It could be poison for all I know!" she objected.

The man looked up at her with an amused expression "and what reason could I possibly having for poisoning you?" he asked with a small laugh, which earned an even more intense glare from the girl. "There's a lot of sick people out there, you could be one of them" she swung her legs off of the couch and flinched at the coldness of the floor.

The man looked away as if hurt "everyone seems to think wrong of me as of late" he said sadly but it stirred no emotion from the girl. "What if I told you that they were just cold pills" he said happily enough turning back towards her.

She glared at him, "you can't prove that!" she protested before looking down at herself. She was unable to move her left hand, as it was bound tightly by boring colored bandages and she felt, overall, horrible. The man stood up, placing the pills in one of the pockets in his robe and shook a finger at her "don't make any more movement, while I go get some medicine" he said cheerfully enough.

She watched as he left the room and sighed. She frowned at her body's weakness and cursed it 'I'll never get anything done at this rate!' she thought to herself. She returned to lying down on the couch and stared up at the white-washed ceiling above her. "Why am I so weak?" she asked herself bringing up a hand to examine her palm.

She heard a crash from down the hall way and averted her gaze towards the door. She heard the man curse a few times before he appeared once more in the doorway. "Kyon really must learn how to stack blankets in a closet" he said waving his spare hand in the air dramatically.

"Here you are" he said happily enough as he held out a green box covered in odd symbols. "Cold medicine for you" he smiled as he fetched a glass filled with tap water from the end table next to the couch she lay on. She eyed him, suddenly a bit suspicious, and the glass of water he held in his hands. She glanced back at the box and pulled out the thin plastic sheets with the same white tablets embedded in them as the ones she had been offered earlier.

"How many?" she asked softly finally giving into the man's will. "Two should be just fine" he smiled. She ripped out two of the pills and popped them into her mouth. Before the bitterness of them could spread throughout her taste buds she gulped down some of the water. She felt somewhat relieved as it washed down her parched throat and she found herself thirsting for more. "Hey!" the man objected snatching the glass away from her, she reached out for it again, but he kept it just out of her reach.

"Tsk, tsk" he said ticking his pointer finger in the air as if she had done something bad. "Drink too much and you'll make yourself sick" he explained. She fell back onto the pillow, suddenly at a loss for anything to do and waited for the sleep aid in the pills to kick in. "Before you go back to sleep" the man addressed her "what should I call you?" he asked simply enough.

She looked up at him and smiled slightly "my name is Len" she closed her eyes and sighed. "Thank you" she whispered under her breath before turning around. "Not a problem" he said in assurance. "What's you name?" she asked trying to keep her eyes open against the work of the cold medicine. "Shigure" he answered with a smile and stood up. "Call me when you wake up again" he said, before turning and leaving her alone in the room once more.

She watched his back until he disappeared down the hall and her eyes slipped shut in a more peaceful sleep.

"What the hell do you mean, you damn Rat?!" her eyes snapped open at the shouts.

"I mean that you should pay more attention to what you're doing, stupid cat" said a calmer person.

Len sat up, looking around her surroundings groggily, she knew immediately that something was amiss but it took her a moment to discover that the sun was low in the sky and hardly any of its light escaped into the room she occupied.

The shouting of the two boys ceased almost instantly at the panicked voice of someone Len couldn't identify right away as a female or male as they were talking much to quietly for her to hear anything other than the murmurs.

She looked at the doorway, half expecting Shigure to poke his head in to check on her. But nothing happened. She was about to lay back down when a fuming flash of navy blue and orange passed by the door quickly and angry footsteps stomped up the stairs. She flinched at the sound of a door slamming shut.

"I'm going to put my stuff away" she heard a female's voice and wondered if it was the same one who had stopped the two boys bickering. She watched as a bubbly looking girl, with dark chocolate brown hair passed by the doorway and listened to her footsteps until they stopped.

"Loud house" Len mumbled to herself before turning away from the door, not quite ready to show anyone that she was awake. She felt, rather than heard, the girl pause at the door and felt stray eyes on her for a moment before it disappeared and she was left alone in the room once more. She closed her eyes in thought, wondering if she should perhaps reveal herself now, or play dumb for the moment. She decided on the latter.

She didn't notice how hungry she was until she could smell whatever was being cooked in the kitchen. Her stomach began to make loud protests and she found herself cursing herself for no particular. The minutes passed and she listened to the soft murmurs of conversation coming from the kitchen, but could make out none of it.

Len half worried about what excuse she was going to use to explain why she had been outside on such a night, and she half worried about leaving the home soon and getting what she needed to do done. She pulled the thin white sheet that covered her away and propped herself up on her elbow. She took another look around the room, but saw nothing new.

She reached for the glass on the end table and frowned when she realized that there was less than half of what had been in there earlier. She gulped down the remainder of it quickly but still thirsted for more. A small sigh escaped her lips as she swung her legs off of the couch, the cold medicine had done its work well and she felt tons better than she had in the past few days.

She stood up shakily and waited for a minute for the dizziness to pass her. She bent backwards slightly in a poor attempt to stretch her back and gasped when a series of popping sensations and sounds came up along her spine. She stood for a moment longer, contemplating on how best to introduce herself, especially in the state she was in.

She was just summoning up enough courage to leave the small room when the girl interrupted her thoughts. "Dinners ready" she called happily enough from the kitchen. Len frowned at the happiness evident in her voice but thought nothing of spoiling it. "Guess this is as good as a time as ever" she mumbled heading for the door.

She wasn't paying attention to the boy dashing down the stairs, and he wasn't paying attention to her. Len stepped out from the doorway and turned towards the stairs at the sudden _THUMP THUMP THUMP_ sounds of heavy steps. She opened her mouth in a startled 'O' and only had time to gasp before it happened.

The orange hair boy noticed Len too late, and the momentum from the stairs propelled him forward, causing him to knock them both to the ground, and worse he landed right on top of her. It took a moment for Len's disoriented mind to decipher what had happened and when she did a panicked expression crossed her face before a loud _POP_ and orange smoke filled the air…

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a/n: well there it goes for chapter three (i'm wondering if i should name them or not...) will the sohma family secret be revealed!?...or will something even larger/bigger/worser occur :o? 


	4. You're the Sohmas!

a/n: sooooooo I'm sick in bed at the moment and decided to write chapter 4 while 3 was still fresh in my head…other than that the only thing I have to say is: enjoy ;P

Disclaimer: I don't own fruits basket…unless you count all 16 volumes that are currently out and the anime ;P.

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Two heads poked out from the kitchen doorway, one covered in long chocolate colored hair worn in a braid and the other in messy looking silver. Both faces wore a look of confusion and despair but only one stepped out of the doorway and into the hall. He began to wave away the smoke while silently cursing, at who knows what. A third person joined the 'audience' from the top of the stairs and watched with a curious smile on his face as the smoke cleared.

The girl and the silver-haired boy silently prayed that the cat form of Kyo had gotten out from sight quickly enough, but both gasped at what they saw. Rather than just the _one_ small heap of Kyo's clothes that they had expected _two_ small heaps laid crumbled on the floor. And rather than just _one_ small orange cat, _two_ cats were present, one a familiar orange and the other a copper brown color.

It took Len a full minute to grasp what had happened and when she did she let out a gasp that sounded more like a hiss. "Oh, no" she said as she realized just how many witnesses there were around her. She began to snatch up her clothes in her mouth and tried to drag them back into the room she emerged from, only hoping that the people staring at her would find this normal enough.

She stopped in her tracks when she noticed the boy who had collided her, and had already earned her fury, was no where to be seen. The clothes fell from her mouth as she noticed another cat glaring at her. "What the hell!" the orange cat protested, almost instantly he began to gather up his own clothes, just as Len had been doing. Len's Cat eyes grew wide as she recognized the voice from earlier that day.

"It's you!" she gasped taking a confused step backwards. The other cat finally noticed her and dropped the clothes, just as she had done, "Wha-" he was cut off by another explosion of orange smoke, and suddenly a naked and very confused boy took the cat's place. He quickly grabbed for his clothes but Len was quicker.

Totally ignoring the fact that he was naked she ran towards him and propped her front paws on his knee to help prop her small body up to get a better look at him. Something crossed her face that could only be described as a cat smile. "It's you!" she exclaimed once more, this time more excited than panicked. "I really found you!" The boy stared down at her oddly before reaching to push her away.

Before his hand could meet with the cat's body another burst of copper colored smoke filled the air, and where cat paws had once rested on Kyo's knee now rested a small set of hands. "You're Kyo Sohma aren't you!" she asked through the smoke not taking any notice to her state of undress. The boy only watched as her brown red eyes grew bright with excitement and nodded his head slowly.

A wide grin spread across her face and she took no heed of the other three surrounding them until she heard a startled gasp from behind her. She turned around quickly to see what the problem was and noticed the silver-haired boy looking at a point on the wall with a small touch of red of embarrassment covering his cheeks and the girl becoming very hectic and at a loss for what to do.

Len looked at them both figuring the two to be quite strange before remembering what happened when a curse person changed back. She screamed from embarrassment as she looked down at herself, gathering her clothes quicker than anyone thought possible she bolted into the room she had occupied the whole day and slammed the door shut.

In the safety of the room she pressed a hand over her heart, in a poor attempt to calm it down. It had been much easier to find the family than she had though possible, even if she had found them out of sheer coincidence. The sigh she released next was filled with a mixture of embarrassment, relief, and, somewhat, happiness. She just took a giant leap closer to her goal.

_Maybe this won't be as tough as I thought_ she smiled at the comforting thought, but tried not to let it make her 'mission' easier.

She jumped at a light tap on the door and her calmed heart rate jumped with her. She opened the door slowly and was greeted by the only other girl in the house. "Dinner time" she announced with a smile as if nothing had just occurred. Already Len was curious to know which zodiac animal she was, after all no one outside of the family (with the small exception of her) knew of the cursed ones.

She was led down the hallway and into what she assumed to be a dining room, instantly she saw just how different Japanese dining would be from what she was used to. Cushions replaced the chairs she was used to, a low table replacing the normal dining table she recalled, and instead of being set with forks, spoons, and knives, five pairs of chopsticks made up the silverware.

Her good mood was instantly replaced by the horrible realization that she would end up making a fool out of herself just trying to eat. Despite the fact that it was nearly four days since she had last eaten she was unsure, now, if she was even still hungry.

Len was too busy with her horror movie thoughts to realize that all eyes were focused on her almost as if waiting for her to say something. She hastily took one of the two remaining seats and focused on the surface of the smooth table, taking in each and every one of the small wood grains that covered it.

"Uhhh" the hesitant voice broke her concentration. She looked up to stare at the girl. "Well" she said, gaining a bit of confidence. "I'm Tohru Honda!" she almost shouted as she bowed at the same time. Len only stared at her for a moment before realizing that Tohru was her name. "I'm Len" she said quietly, not wanting to drag anymore attention to herself than was needed. Tohru smiled down at her before taking her own seat next to Len and Len returned the warm greeting.

Len sighed happily as most of the tension of being around strangers disappeared. Tohru seemed to come off as a complete ditz to her, but not in a bad way. She had almost forgotten the other two boys when a seemingly shy voice spoke up. "I'm Yuki Sohma" the silver-haired boy murmured before giving her a small smile. Which Len instantly returned.

She turned to look at the only remaining person to be introduced only to find that it was the orange haired boy and he looked very pissed off. "Just ignore him" Yuki said, earning a hate filled glare from the said person.

She smiled anyway "that's alright" she said "I already know who he is, Kyo right?" she asked. Kyo didn't turn to look at her he just gave an angry snort. "Guess I'm right" Len murmured. Just then a bowl filled with rice covered in an odd looking brown sauce was placed in front of her and her stomach gave her away instantly with the loudest growl yet. A small blush covered her face but she acted as if it had never occurred.

"Soooooo" she heard an easily recognizable voice and looked up to meet Shigure's gaze. "Aren't you going to explain?" he asked. Len stared at him oddly not understanding his meaning "explain?" she asked. "yes, after all it's not every day you have a girl show up, half-dead I might add, on your doorstep and then she wakes up only for you to find that she knows all about your deepest secret and reveals one of her own y'know" he ended with a wave of his hand.

"Oh, that!" she said suddenly coming back to reality. "Where do I start?" she asked herself out loud. "The beginning would be helpful" Shigure answered for her. Len picked up her chopsticks and eyed them warily before finally giving up. "First off" she asked "Do you think I could get a spoon?" Tohru stood up instantly "Yes, of course right away!" she said before bustling off to the kitchen and returning a few moments later with a recognizable spoon in her hands.

Len smiled at the familiarity she felt from the spoon and took a hesitant bit from her meal. She smiled as she realized it wasn't the poison she suspected it to be but in fact rather good. "Well" she thought of what could be considered as the beginning. "It all began" she took another bite and chewed slowly. "When I was about 4, I think" she continued on with her story "I don't remember much of what happened though" she excused herself.

Shigure only nodded and urged her to tell her story. She agreed easily enough and began with the words "once upon a time…"

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a/n: well there's chapter 4 for ya' now I think I'll work on chapter 5 because it's been so long since I've last worked on this and it' would appear that I'm on a roll currently so why not use it to my advantage right? 


	5. the Prince and the Princess

A/n: well I hope posting three chapters in one day will make up for my absence, this should be the last post of the day but you never know with me…

I also just learned about the Virginia Tech shooting and, though it's not much, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to the 32 victims who have passed on (33 if you include the shooter but I'm not dedicating this to him) and the 15 in the hospital, and I hope that those 15 all make it out okay…it's not much but I'd rather do this than ignore it completely. I've been keeping up with the live news coverage for about an hour now…it's pretty bad.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket T-T

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"Once upon a time in a time only a decades and two years past there lived a small girl. She lived with her mother, her father had passed on before she was born, and her mother loved her very dearly.

One day the mother took the small girl to a large estate, in which she was to meet a very important person and spend the day with him. At first the girl didn't like the new arrangement but she soon warmed up to the boy and would love the times her mother would take her to his home.

As time passed, though, the girl realized that the boy wasn't all she thought he was. His friendliness he showed her at first soon melted away to reveal what could only be described as a monster"

Len took note when she noticed Kyo flinch at the word but continued on as if she hadn't noticed.

"He would tell her what to do and when to do it and if she did otherwise she would incur his wrath"

At this sentence she lifted the sleeve of her borrowed clothes to reveal a long white scar that stretched from her shoulder to her elbow.

"The girl quickly learned, however, not to do this. More time passed and her mother would bring her over to the boy's house despite the girls' pleas for her to stop.

One day the boy had granted the girl a day of leave from him saying 'you sicken me go away' and she did. She spent the day with one of the other residents of the home, another boy who was treated the same as she was by the head of the family"

She paused for a moment to take another bite and continued.

"The first thing that the girl noticed about the abused boy was his poor health, she noticed that he didn't seem happy at all, and his smiles never reached his face. So she decided, on her own, that she would try to see him as often as possible and make him feel better. Months passed like this and she was certain that the other boy knew nothing of her endeavors.

The time came when her new friend had to start school, and it became a rare treat when they were able to meet up with each other once more. Often times he would bring some of his school friends, who were later revealed as family members also, and the girl and him would play once more.

The girl wanted it to last forever, she loved playing hide and seeks, cops and robbers, and the other childish games they always played, but no matter how much she loved it she knew all good things had to come to an end.

One day, when the boy had given the girl leave once more, she was playing with the boy and his small group of friends. She had been declared 'it' and was running frantically after the other children, determined to tag one of them. It was then that she noticed something out of the corner of her eye, without stopping she turned to look and met the gaze of a furious boy.

She instantly felt fear take a foot hold on her and didn't notice the rock in front of her. She tripped and as she fell she took her friend, the boy, down with her. At first she was relieved to have her fall cushioned but as gray smoke filled the air she knew something was wrong.

The other children gathered around waving their hands to clear the smoke from their faces and calling out both the boys and the girls name and asking if they were all right"

She paused for another bite of food, and blushed slightly as she realized all eyes, even Kyos', were now on her. "Go on" encouraged Yuki, his voice sounded urgent, almost as if she was telling him something he needed to know.

Len nodded in agreement.

"At first the girl had no idea what had happened, the boy had disappeared leaving behind his clothes and in his place stood a small rat." She noticed Yuki's eyes grow wide with surprise.

"She wondered where the boy had gone, no realizing that he was still in front of her until the rat spoke 'are you okay?' it asked her not realizing what had happened. The girl only stared at the rat, and ignored the screams from the other children. 'You can talk?' she asked uncertainly. 'Hmmm, uhh yeah' the boy replied still not understanding why startled screams filled the air. 'Look' the girl said poking a small finger lightly into the rat's torso.

Almost instantly the angry boy was at her side gripping her wrist and preventing her from repeating the action. She looked up at him frightfully as he pulled her up easily and begin dragging her back to his room. She protested, of course, but compared to him she was nothing.

As soon as they were out of sight from the other children and her friend, the rat, the boy took out his anger on her. She didn't know what she had done wrong, but whatever it was it made the boy very, very, angry.

She had no chance to ask him, either, before he put a curse on her. Every time she would get weak or hugged by a boy she would turn into a cat. She ran home to her mother, at a loss for anything else to do, and almost instantly her mother came up with a plan.

They were to move far away from Japan, to the United States and change their names and everything else that could lead a search to them. That very night the girl and her mother left, never to return again.

At first the girl was happy enough she had taken a name she had always wanted, Len, and her mother didn't seem to mind her curse too much, although she had become horribly protective of her only child afterwards.

But like before, time passed and the girls mother eventually took a job that required her to be out of state about 99 of the year. Len, oddly enough, wasn't upset by this; she still loved her mother and understood that it must have been a burden to raise a cursed child. It was then, at age 14 she vowed to find a way to change back and earn her mothers love once more.

So the girl did everything she thought would help, she spent much time bringing back the memories she had worked so hard to suppress and remembered quite a bit more than she thought possible, she even started martial arts classes and got a black belt impressively fast. After two years of all this she decided that it was time to return and keep her vow."

Len sighed and stared down at her rice.

"And here I am today" she ended with a sad smile. "Doing all I can in my power to regain the life I never had" She took a small sip of tea and drank more of it as she realized it was sweet.

"You" Yuki paused in his question as if contemplating asking it or not. "I think I can remember now, you I mean" she looked down at the table as if ashamed. "So you're the rat" Len smiled, "thought as much, sorry for not saying good-bye Yuki" she said sincerely.

Yuki looked up at her confusion clear on his face. "that was the last day I saw you" she explained "and I never got a chance to tell you bye" a look of understanding suddenly crossed his face. "I'm happy" he said the word as if it were a stranger to his lips "I thought that everyone had their memories erased" Len said nothing, just let the words sink in and gave a small smile in reply. She turned back towards her meal and continued eating.

"Do you like it?" Tohru asked, sounding nervous. Len nodded "yes, it's very good" the other girls face brightened at the comment and a wide smile covered her face. Len shoved another spoonful into her mouth and began to chew slowly. She knew, the hard way, that if you go for such a long period of time without eating that it was a very bad idea to try and fill your stomach right afterwards.

Len saw Shigure take something out from his robe and she turned to watch as he flipped open a small blue notebook and start writing something in it. "What are you doing?" Len asked curiously. Shigure looked up at her and smiled "I think your story could be a bestseller" it took a moment for Len to realize he was talking about books. "Bestseller?" she asked.

Shigure nodded happily "Yes! Yes! Of course a man holding a beautiful young princess and a handsome young prince in his custody only to have them meet and fall in love, but both the princess and the prince have a horrible curse and because of this the princess is sent away. But a few years later they, unknowingly at first, meet up again with one another and rekindle their fiery love while at the same time trying to free themselves of the horrible curse" he smiled happily and Len only stared at him.

"And who exactly are the prince and princess?" she asked cautiously. Shigure's eyes grew wide "Why you and Yuki of course!" he said as if it were common sense. Len's red/brown eyes flashed angrily for a moment before her hand met with the back of Shigures head. "I don't love him!" she protested while at the same time daring him to say something else.

"Yes, but he's a prince you'll fall for him eventually" Shigure complained rubbing the back of his head. "Such violence, maybe you'd be better off with Kyon" this time Kyo beat Len to the hit. "What the hell kind of nonsense are you talking about?!" the angry boy shouted.

"Like your one to talk!" Len accused Kyo. She felt his anger turn from Shigure to her "What did you just say?!" he raised a challenging fist in the air. "I said someone with a curse should be more careful when going down the stairs!" it was a lame answer but it fired him up all the more.

"What the hell kind of response is that?!"

"Why are you asking so many damn questions?!"

Both of them held their fists in the air now, the only thing separating the potential fist fight was the low table.

"I don't care if you are a girl, I'm gonna kill you!"

"I'd like to see you try! After all how can a kitten compare to a lion?" she was slightly proud of her comparison.

"I'm gonna kick your ass!" his face was growing red.

"Bring it on!" she challenged.

Before either one could make a move on their behalf a flash of silver and Kyo was down on the ground, Yuki standing over his fallen body. "You really are hopeless" he mumbled before stepping away.

Kyo glared at him and released the closest thing to a snarl that Len had ever heard come from a human being. Before he ran out of the room, a few moments later and Len heard the slamming of his door.

Len took her seat once more and waited patiently for her anger to boil down. "I'm sorry for causing such a commotion" she apologized through clenched teeth. "Yep you two would make a great couple" Shigure replied. Len clenched her fist in her lap and relaxed it once more.

"Would you mind if I stayed one more night?" she asked, hoping she hadn't ruined her stay. Shigure nodded "I wouldn't mind, just as long as you don't follow Kyo's example and try to destroy my house" Len nodded in agreement before bending her head down to finish her meal.

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a/n: so that concludes chapter 5 D i hope you guys are happy and review please ;P i'll love you if you do...okay so maybe not in that way but...well yeah i shut up now


	6. rooftop perverts

A/N: well I should be working on my research project (due Wednesday) but I'd rather not…so I decided to write out this chapter and look like I'm doing something productive in my school life D

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket…but I do own Len so hands off!

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Len sighed heavily as she glanced at the clock for what seemed to be the billionth time that night. "10:47" she whispered out loud and she still wasn't tired. She sat up and threw the thin white sheet off of her legs before swinging them to the ground and standing up. She stretched her flannel covered arms into the air and flinched slightly when her left wrist protested.

"Stupid wrist" she glared at the bandages as if that would help it to heal more quickly, but nothing happened. She stepped out into the hallway and glanced up the top landing of the stairs. She expected to see someone else there, but there was no one. She adjusted her pajama top, one she had borrowed from Tohru, and walked down the hallway.

She glanced into the kitchen, but still saw no one. _Why bother looking?_ She thought to herself _at this hour they're all bound to be asleep._ Her nose scrunched up for no particular reason and she continued down the hall. She walked into the dining room and glanced around until she was certain that nothing was out of the ordinary.

She sighed once more as she realized she had no clue for what she was looking for, but brushed it off easily. She slid open the sliding door that led to the back of the house and the cool night air comforted her more than the couch could have ever. She took a step out into the night and closed the door behind her.

Len already knew what she was looking for, she was sure this house, like many others, would have the ladder that led to the rooftops. All she needed to do was find it. She began to walk the circumference of the house slowly and quietly just in case she was passing by someone's bedroom.

She was about to give up on finding the said object when she turned the corner of the house, and almost ran into it. "Oh!" she jumped back. "Found you!" she smiled to herself and began to climb up. She approached the top slowly and swung her leg onto the shingled rooftop before hoisting the rest of her body up easily.

Len sat down carefully, making sure she didn't take a wrong step that would cause her to fall off the not-so-faraway ledge. She pulled her knees to her chest, locking her arms around them, and rested her chin in the little nook her knees formed. Never once did she notice the presence of Kyo just on the other side of the rooftop and just when he was about to make himself known, with and angry remark, she began to talk to herself.

"I wonder if I should apologize?" she asked herself while twisting a strand of long hair between her fingers.

Kyo couldn't see the frown that crossed her face but he was confident that it was there.

"But it wasn't really my fault to begin with, blame it on Shigure"

Kyo instantly recognized her unwillingness to admit to another that she was sorry as one he shared with her. He slunk back into the shadows as Len turned her head a bit and froze. At first he was sure that she had seemed him but after a very tense moment she turned away once more. A small sigh of relief managed to escape the boy.

"I wonder if what Shigure said could be true…" her voice trailed off.

"Nah!" she grinned. "I'm not stupid enough to fall in love, and besides both are teenage boys" she put great emphasis on the word 'boys'. "Which means that they're just good-looking perverts" she laughed slightly at her own words.

It took a moment for Kyo to realize that she was referring to him and Yuki but as soon as he realized what her words meant he made himself known.

"Who the hell are you called a pervert?!" he shouted.

Len let out a startled scream while at the same time trying to stand up. Her foot slipped against the wet shingles, from the previous night's rain, and she felt herself stumble backwards—closer to the edge. Her startled face went through a series of different emotions: confusion, realization, and then fear as the heel of her right foot hung off the edge of the rooftop.

Kyo jumped into action when he realized she couldn't regain her balance. Len's arms wheeled around in the air dangerously but despite her efforts she began to fall backwards, over the edge. Her eyes grew wide with fright but before she could release the scream caught in her throat she felt a strong tug at the front of her shirt.

She barely had time to register Kyo's bright orange hair when she felt another, stronger, tug on her button up blouse and a small _rip_ sound before she was thrown back onto the safety of the rooftop.

"What the hell do you think your doing?!" Kyo shouted, loud enough to sound stern but quiet enough to not disturb the others hopefully still asleep. It took a long moment for Len to realize that Kyo had pulled her back away from the roofs edge and she looked up at him.

"Wha--?" was all she could manage before flinching under his glare. "Sorry" she mumbled, still trying to calm her rapidly beating heart.

"You should watch your step next time" he said quietly. Len glared up at him. "Excuse me?" she asked standing up. She reached to adjust her shirt once more, only to realize that the two top buttons had popped off and she was revealing an uncomfortable amount of cleavage.

Blushing she held the two sides of the shirt together with a clenched fist before continuing her argument. "You!" she accused poking a spare finger into his chest. "Were the one who was eavesdropping _and_ the one who startled me to the point that I almost fell to my death" she paused at how odd that sounded before adding: "or serious injury".

A look of guilt crossed Kyo's face before her argued back "Well I save you from falling!" he protested. Len's eyes narrowed "I wouldn't have been falling if you hadn't been eavesdropping now would I?" She instantly knew that Kyo had no more comebacks and she smiled inwardly.

She turned on her heel and started walking away. "Where are you going?!" she heard Kyo's gruff voice behind her. She half-turned and glanced at him "Good night" she said. "Oh, yeah" she added. "I'll be gone when you get home tomorrow, so it was nice meeting you." She waved her hand in the air as if to say good-bye.

"Sayonara" she whispered loud enough for him to hear before she swung her legs onto the ladder and climbed down.

Len returned to the small couch she was to sleep on and glanced at the clock once more. "11: 17" she sighed and closed her eyes.

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A/n: well I move into my new house in a few days…I'm really excited about that ;P…not that any of you guys care at all TT

sorry about the short chapter too...


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